I flew in a few days after the rest and immediately hit the pool. The house had beautiful views of the surrounding hills and some great outdoor living space for chilling out. We mainly kept to the house, grilling and cooking together, mixing up various drinks by the pitcher to enjoy while lounging in the pool.
But one specific reason for the trip was to attend the Indian Wells Tennis Open. Us girls had tickets to Wednesday's quarter final events and we were all very excited, the boys were headed off to golf. I don't know much about tennis but was looking forward to a little lesson from the others. Unfortunately the morning started out with Lauren having to go to the emergency room for what turned out to be a return of DVT she'd had in years past.
Mary, Caroline and I started the morning with a men's double- Huey & Janowicz against Blake & Fish. The action was so fast on the doubles!We were sitting in the GA grandstands as the stadium had filled rather quickly and the views of the match and the mountains was a great way to start the day!
Next up was one of Mary's new favorites, Gilles Simon. He was playing Kavin Anderson in the main stadium where we had box seats. I couldn't understand why there weren't more people watching the match, for about 20 minutes. But then when I felt like I was in an oven, roasting at 475F, I figured it out! It was CRAZY hot. Most people were out on the lawn or in one of the bar tents, watching it all on the big screen TVs in the shade.
We took a break from the oven, I mean stadium, and lounged on the lawn for a bit, cooling down in the shade. We were waiting for the matches between Federer and Wawrinka and then Nadal and Gulbis and knew it was going to be scorching. Luckily the women's matches went on extremely long so we didn't have too long before the sun set when we went back in.
Our seats were fantastic and the action on both games was just awesome! Mary and Caroline taught me a lot and I may just have caught the tennis bug. I'm ready for next year!
The next night, after a full day by the pool, most of us went to dinner at Tinto at the Saguaro, which was excellent. When we got home I stayed up with Alex and Carolyn to have a few nightcaps before heading to bed. The next morning we learned that the casita (a converted garage next to the main house) they were staying in had been robbed while we were at dinner and they were watching movies in the living room! Cash, clothing and toiletries had been stolen, the credit cards and mobile phones mysteriously being returned to the outside of the house early in the morning. The whole thing was freaky!
The day before we left, Steve and I drove out to Palm Canyon and did a short hike up onto one of the ridges. This is a gorgeous area, with both short/easy as well as longer/tougher hikes. And of course the warm water springs that nurture the massive Fan Palms, a vision of an oasis.
Even with the few snafus, I've gotta say, I'm a fan of Palm Springs now!
All photos here.
March 2013
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